4 Energy Efficient Upgrades For Your Home

It’s always a good idea to care about the environment. There’s only one earth, and the better it’s taken care of, the better life future generations will have. These days, there is technology dedicated to being environmentally friendly and helping people reduce how much energy they use. Smart technology can also help sell a home!

This green tech is widely available, but many homeowners may not know of its existence or how useful it is. Here are some of the different pieces of green technology any homeowner can use in their home to reduce their carbon footprint without changing their current lifestyle.

1. Smart Thermostats

Everyone has left their Coventry home for work without remembering to turn off the air conditioning, only realizing ten hours later that it was on all day long and no one was home to enjoy it. With a smart thermostat, those days are over. Smart thermostats can be adjusted from anywhere in the world through an app that can be downloaded on any smart device like a phone, iPad, or laptop. And not only that, smart thermostats also have the ability to learn the homeowner’s habits and schedule so it can automatically adjust itself at times when it knows people are waking up in the morning or are leaving for work. Being able to adjust a thermostat so easily will mean a lot less energy is going to heat and cool the home, and monthly energy bills will also sow the difference.

2. Double-Pane Windows

Many homeowners don’t realize it, but windows can be a big waste of energy. That’s why when replacing windows, homeowners should consider getting double-pane windows instead of the normal single-pane variety. Double-pane windows are made with two sheets of glass that have a gap between them, helping to insulate the home. In fact, double pane windows can be up to 50% more efficient than single-pane windows, which means more savings for the homeowner when it comes to heating and cooling the home in the summer and winter.

3. Dual-Flush Toilet

Between showers, baths, and toilets, bathrooms use a lot of water. One of the ways to reduce the amount of water wasted in the bathroom is by installing a dual-flush toilet. These toilets are high-efficiency toilets, meaning they have to use at most 4.8 liters of water per flush, while normal toilets use up to 13 liters per flush or more depending on how old the model is. Adding to a dual-flush toilet’s efficiency, they come with two different ways to flush: a low volume flush for liquid waste and a high volume flush for solid waste. This way the user never has to use more water than is absolutely necessary, leading to less water consumption and lower utility bills.

4. LED Light Bulbs

While incandescent bulbs are the popular choice because they’re cheap, they don’t last nearly as long as LED bulbs or use as little energy. LED bulbs may be more expensive at around $8 per bulb, but they can last up to 25,000 hours and use only 10 watts, compared to up to 1,200 hours from an incandescent bulb that uses 60 watts. While incandescent bulbs might be the most cost-effective in the short run, LED bulbs have them outmatched on every other facet, making them a much better choice for any green home.

Using any of these four energy efficient home upgrades can help make a home more environmentally friendly. There are more green home upgrades other than the ones listed here, so for homeowners who really want to go the extra mile, be sure to visit a hardware store or read blogs about more of the latest green tech.